The Existence Of The Universe.

Spontaneous Creation or The Big Splat

2010-09-02T09:07:00.000-07:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by MikeLicht, NotionsCapital

Spontaneous Creation or The Big Splat: According to the great Dr. Stephen Hawking, the creation of the universe occurred absent the presence of a god or goddess*. Therefore, (not sure if we are quoting him or the BBC News) the creation of the universe was spontaneous. We also (here at the AZD) now refer to it as "The Big Splat" (relative to the Big Bang) - kind of like a paintball or an egg being splattered against the fabric of space time. And, there you have it! But the godless creation of the universe seems somehow meaningless and purposeless. One can only imagine a cartoonish god (like the Seth McFarlane god of 'Family Guy' or the Terry Gilliam god of 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail') splattering a great egg against the wall. And where did the wall come from?

However, the argument could be made that absence of a Creator at the beginning does not rule out the existence of the same...

Incidentally, we can't wait for the great Stephen Colbert's take on this in his hilarious "Stephen Hawking is Such an *ssh#l@" segment.

Please note: This posting appears simultaneously in our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary

FOM: *Stephen Hawking: God Did Not Create the Universe (from BBC News), REUTERS News Agency on the subject, Anti-Time and Searchedu.com on Spontaneous Creation

Anti-Time

2010-08-31T11:01:00.000-07:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by pt

Updated: Thursday, September 2, 2010* (See Below)

Anti-Time: Is the unfortunate proposal that time will eventually come to a stop - and could even be due to consequences from human activity, engineering and science. We got this idea from at least two sources: Ray Kurzweil and Star Trek: TNG Last Episodes(!). (Yes, yes we were big fans of the TV series and occasionally view a repeat every now and then.)

Our main reference is to the book by Ray Kurzweil - The Singularity is Near. One of the propositions seems to be that computer speeds will continue to increase at an accelerated pace.

One wonders if the pace will continue to the point where computations will literally exceed "light speed". What if they continue to accelerate to the point where computations will become instantaneous? At which point, time will become unnecessary (who ever thought that time was necessary?). At which point, time's reality becomes obvious and even stops. This might be the true singularity.

At which, point time itself could implode upon itself and reverse. Thus creating the phenomenon of "anti-time"? Everything affected by time (the universe) would then reverse in time. Except, of course, for certain sub-atomic particles! The universe would literally implode upon itself in this gigantic reversal. A sort of a "Reverse Big Bang" would then be created. Could the universe start all over again?

FOM: The Singularity is Near (on Google Books), The Singularity is Near (BookTV link - no video!), Wikipedia Link on Arrow of Time, Wikipedia Link on Ray Kurzweil, Glenn Beck's Interview of Kurzweil (!),US Military to Attack Moore's Law for Future Computers (from BBC News), *Stephen Hawking: God Did Not Create the Universe (from BBC News) and Time's Arrow from Google Books

Please Note: This posting appears simultaneously on our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary

Lunar Reduction or Lunduction

2010-08-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

Image licensed under Creative Commons by Mike Baird

Lunar Reduction or Lunduction: Is the unfortunate conflation of lunar and reduction. That's it, the Moon seems to be shrinking in size. ABC News reported that it appears to have shrunk by the length of 2 football fields (American). That's right - the moon appears to be shrinking.

FOM: NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Reveals 'Incredible Shrinking Moon'.

Please note: This posting appears simultaneously in our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary

The Dione Belt

2009-09-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

The Dione Belt: A new astronomical term - not one of ours. Given name for the new, transient radiation belt found circling Saturn. Exact origin of the radiation belt is not yet known, but guesses have been made by the professionals. Bit.ly: http://bit.ly/1dDofZ

For Pronunciation and origin of the name see: Dione.

References: New Transient Radiation Belt Around Saturn, Saturn, Cassini-Huygens and Radiation Belt.

NB: This posting appears simultaneously in our sister publication, The Anti-Zen Dictionary.